How to Make Sweet Potato Wrapped in Kale Drizzled with Tahini

SERVINGS: 4

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 25 MINUTES

SKILL LEVEL: EASY

MEAL: LUNCH-DINNER

STYLE: WESTERN

PREPARATION: PUREE, BOILED

EAT IN: AUTUMN-WINTER

How Can This Ayurvedic Recipe Make You Feel Great?

AYURVEDIC ANALYSIS

Bite into Sweet Potato Wrapped in Kale and your lips are met by fibrous, sligthly bitter kale followed by the surprisingly sweet, soft sweet potato center. Rich, heavy tahini sauce warms you down to your bones.

A Universal Choice

Sometimes it seems overwhelming to try and make an Ayurvedic dish that is good for everyone at your table. Isn't Ayurveda so powerful because it understands that everyone is different? Luckily, there are dishes that incorporate healthy ingredients for all three constitutional types, just like this one!
Kale is one of our favorite greens for high Pitta and Kapha. Cool, grounding sweet potato is nurturing for Pitta and Vata, while tahini, warms up chilly Kahpa and Vata. Did you follow that tongue twister? Don't worry- just remember that Sweet Potato Wrapped in Kale with Tahini Drizzle is a healing choice for everyone at your table.

Regular Digestion

Sweet Potato and Kale are a combination for happy tastebuds and strong digestion. Fiber and bitter taste stimulate peristalsis, encouraging regular elimination of the bowels. Sweet potato is unique among comfort foods for its Kapha pacifying lightness. This tuber is beneficial even for those with heavy digestive symptoms. Unlike dairy products, potatoes, and other common comfort foods like pasta, sweet potatoes feel light in the stomach. They still feel nourishing and comforting. Sweet potato is supportive for digestion and contains ample fiber to encourage good elimination. Besides simple starches, sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, which means these roots can satisfy the appetite for long stretches. Despite the name "sweet," it may be a beneficial food for diabetics as preliminary studies revealed it helps to stabilize blood sugar levels.

Gentle Detoxification

The bitter taste of kale improves the flow of bile, reducing gall bladder and liver congestion. Bile also stores blood born toxins after they are neutralized by the liver. Flushing bile releases these toxins from the body. In many cases, dishes that are considered "detoxifying" are very light and leave you feeling unsatisfied. By combining detoxifying kale with sweet potato and tahini, you can rest assured that your body is being cleansed while enjoying that satisfied feeling you crave at the end of a meal.

Hearty Tahini

Tahini is warm and hearty, and is an excellent base for rich, nourishing sauces. It can even stand alone, as in this recipe. It is most often used in Middle Eastern dishes- for example, in savory hummus and baba ghanoush, as well as in sweet desserts like halvah. A sauce is often used to bring cohesion to a dish with different flavors- in this case, bitter kale is softened by tahini and to sweet potatoes, it adds rich depth.

Sweet Potatoes Worldwide

Next to the stuffed turkey, nothing conjures Thanksgiving more than grandma's sweet potato casserole whether candied with maple syrup, topped with roasted pecans, or served mashed with butter. The sweet potato is an important and nourishing vegetable in many countries. As an ingredient in cakes in Spain, a fried street food in Cairo, a sweet jelly in South America, and a snack dish in Southeast Asia, all across the globe, sweet potato is a staple food throughout winter. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. However, it is the root that offers the versatility and nutritional integrity to many diets worldwide.

WHY EAT AN AYURVEDIC DIET?

Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. An Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body type and the specific imbalances you are working with at any given time. Ayurveda shows you your specific body type’s needs and what should be favored in your Ayurvedic menu. Watch as you eat less but feel more satisfied because what you are eating truly nourishes you. Since Ayurveda believes all disease begins in the digestive tract, food is your first medicine. By eating a healthy diet that’s ideal for your body, you experience optimal health.

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Is Sweet Potato Wrapped in Kale Drizzled with Tahini Good for My Ayurvedic Diet?

Find out by taking this free, easy quiz. You'll learn your body type, and whether Sweet Potato Wrapped in Kale Drizzled with Tahini is a good fit for you. Time to complete: approximately 1 minute.

AYURVEDIC MEDICINAL QUALITIES

INCREASES Increases These Qualities (Gunas) Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main characteristics (gunas). Aggravating these characteristics weakens your body and causes imbalance. By knowing which characteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct imbalances before you get sick. Every characteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold). You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite characteristic. Learn More	EASY ABOUT EASY GUNA Easy refers to anything easy to digest, or digests quickly. LEARN MORE ABOUT EASY CLEAR ABOUT CLEAR GUNA Clear refers to anything that cleanses or flushes out wastes, or that digests ama. LEARN MORE ABOUT CLEAR MOBILE ABOUT MOBILE GUNA Mobile refers to anything that stimulates the nervous system, muscles, or activity. LEARN MORE ABOUT MOBILE HOT ABOUT HOT GUNA Hot is identified by increased body temperature, metabolism, or inflammation. LEARN MORE ABOUT HOT
TASTES The 6 Tastes Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food. Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body. Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food. Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods. Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion. Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste. One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below? Learn More	BITTER ABOUT BITTER GUNA Bitter is disagreeable and stimulating rejection, and a strong taste often associated with black coffee, dark chocolate, and most salad greens. LEARN MORE ABOUT BITTER PUNGENT ABOUT PUNGENT GUNA Pungency is characterized by irritation, or sharp, spicy foods that irritate the mouth such as black pepper. LEARN MORE ABOUT PUNGENT
DOSHAS The Three Doshas / Body Types People tend to get sick, over and over again, due to similar causes and habitual imbalances that are unique to the person. Your body type summarizes this tendency, showing you the 'type' of conditions and imbalances that frequently challenge your health & wellness. Using body type, you can also identify remedies likely to improve your strength and resiliency. Your body type identifies physical and mental characteristics as well as your personal strengths and weaknesses. The calculation of your body type is based on your medical history. The 3 functional body types (doshas), are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha). Catabolic individuals tend to break down body mass into energy. Metabolic individuals tend to burn or use energy. Anabolic individuals tend to store energy as body mass. Catabolic people tend to be easily stimulated, hyperactive, underweight and dry. Metabolic people tend to be rosy-cheeked, easily irritated, focused, driven, and easily inflamed. Anabolic people are heavy, stable and grounded, but if they store too much energy, they could gain weight easily and have congestion. Learn More	PACIFIES AGGRAVATES
HAS THE FOLLOWING	EFFECT: Alkalizing ALKALIZING An herb or food that makes the urine more alkaline (higher pH). This herbal action can be helpful for a number of inflammatory conditions. LEARN MORE ABOUT ALKALIZING , Prana PRANA Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital life energy, similar to Qi in Chinese Medicine. Many herbs stimulate your energy, or improve the flow of prana through your body. Generally, prana needs to be increased in spring after a sleepy winter. LEARN MORE ABOUT PRANA TYPE: Greens

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

Experiences are Personal

Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary. The list of actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.

Digestion:

Digestive

DIGESTIVE

Herbs that encourage healthy digestive.

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Stomachic

STOMACHIC

An herb that increases appetite or settles a nauseas or nervous stomach. These generally increase the digestive fire, therefore relieving symptoms of sluggish or difficult digestion.

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Energy Vitality Strength:

Stimulates energy

STIMULATES-ENERGY

This category groups thyroid and adrenal stimulating herbs

LEARN MORE ABOUT STIMULATES-ENERGY

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Builds stamina

BUILDS-STAMINA

Promotes strength, endurance and resistance in the body. Rebuilds weak tissues after a time of depletion.

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Nutritive

NUTRITIVE

An herb that is strengthening and nourishing.

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Heart & Circulation:

Vasodilator

VASODILATOR

A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area.

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Alterative

ALTERATIVE

Literally, an herb that restores the proper function of the body. In practice, alteratives are usually blood cleansers and blood chemistry balancers. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter.

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Blood Tonic

BLOOD-TONIC

An herb that produces more blood cells in the body or otherwise strengthens blood. Helpful for anemia and other types of deficiency.

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Liver & Gall Bladder:

Cholagogue

CHOLAGOGUE

Cholagogues stimulate the release of bile from the gall bladder for improved digestion.

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Reproductive Health:

Galactagogue

GALACTAGOGUE

Increases production of breast milk.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GALACTAGOGUE